Memories of Maiden's Peak
by Count Morningstar
Summary: Takes place during Best Wishes Revised. A reporter recounts the time in his youth when he came to Maiden's Peak and met strange girl who's memory continues to haunt him. A prequel to Dawn of Shadows. Four-part story.
1. Bewitching Eyes

**Introduction:** This story is an idea I've had for a few months now, and recently I decided to go ahead with it. I'm kind of doing it in a different way than I had originally envisioned though. I've never written a story like this before, so this is an experiment for me. I ask that those of you reading bare that in mind when reviewing. So timeline wise, the events told in this story takes place around the same time as the events of _Best Wishes Revised_. It's also a prequel to _Dawn of Shadows_, and I'm actually a little hesitant to put it up because it might ruin the surprise twist of that story. But then I'm also hoping those reading this will have read _Dawn of Shadows_ already.

Anyway, this story is also a sequel to the anime episode, _The Ghost of Maiden's Peak_. It's one of the more interesting episodes of the classic anime, and a bit of a downer too. But that's one of the main reason's I'm doing this story. And by the time I'm through with it, there'll be one less lonely ghost out there. All that said, let's get ready for some horror.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

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**I: Bewitching Eyes**

September 21, 2012

7:36 PM: I don't really know why I'm writing this. Maybe it's just to make sense of the last seven years. Or maybe it's just because I need to get all this out. I probably have for a long time. But the thing is I haven't been able to tell anyone because if I did they'd either laugh or think I was nuts. Hell, sometimes I think I am nuts. Maybe that whole night was just one big delusion and I should just check myself into a padded cell. That night almost seven years ago to the day I saw things that no living person was meant to see, things that still haunt me.

I saw her face again tonight. I was in my cheap motel room here in Eterna City flipping through the channels and caught the end of a Pokemon Contest. The winner was well-known Coordinator named Dawn Berlitz. I want to make it clear that I've never met Ms. Berlitz. But I do know someone who has her face. In fact the first time I saw Dawn's picture in a newspaper I thought it was the girl I met. I realized quickly that it wasn't though. The face was the right one but the eyes were all wrong. Dawn's were the eyes of a normal person. I made it my business to learn everything I could about her family though. As it turns out I know one of her relatives.

But I guess I'm getting a little ahead of myself. Before I go any further into what I learned about the Berlitz family I should talk about the time I met that girl. At this point I ask that anyone reading this, whether it be some relative going through my things after my death or just some guy who found this manuscript lying around somewhere due to my own carelessness, to keep an open mind about what I am about to relate. As I said before, it's a pretty unbelievable tale. And I won't blame anyone for seeing this as just the ramblings of a man with a screw loose.

We now go back to seven years ago in the Kanto Region. I think I was about fourteen at the time. My family and I had moved from Saffron City to a little seaside village called Maiden's Peak. The Peak was far from being a bustling metropolis like Saffron. It still is actually. Most of the year it's just a quant little fishing village. But at the end of summer the Peak's a popular spot for the tourists. That's when my family and I came to live there. My mother had been offered a teaching position at the local high school and my father got a job at the town's historical society. They had both decided, without consulting me of course, that a young man would do well growing up away from the city, not giving a damn about how a move like that would take me away from all the friends I had made over the years.

I still remember the day we moved in as if it had happened yesterday. But then everything from that time is still crystal clear in my mind. I don't think I'll be able to forget it as long as I live. My parents and I had just gotten to our house and we started taking in the boxes that were in the back of our van. We were just getting to the last few boxes when someone came to greet us.

He was an older gentleman, bald and just a little bit overweight. He had on glasses, a yellow polo shirt, and the most ugly pair of flannel pants I had ever seen.

"Hi there." He greeted as he walked up. "You must be the new neighbors. I'm John Fredrickson."

"Greetings." My father greeted back as he shook Mr. Fredrickson's hand while still managing to hold onto the heavy cardboard box he was carrying. "I'm Timothy Norris. That's my son Benjamin carrying that large box of kitchen plates into the house. My wife Betty's inside unpacking."

"Mind if I lend a hand?" Mr. Fredrickson asked.

"You'd be helping a great deal if you brought in that last box for us." My father answered as he pointed his head to the last box in the back of the van.

It was an hour before we had gotten all the boxes unpacked and put most of what they contained where they were supposed to go in our quaint little cottage. I was still putting away a few things while my father and Mr. Fredrickson were at the dining room table getting to know each other.

"So how long have you been in Maiden's Peak, Mr. Fredrickson?" my father asked.

"Oh, about ten years I s'pose." The old gentleman said with a puff of air. "I actually used to live in Celadon City for years. But I got tired of all the crime, smog, and traffic. So when I retired I came out here."

"That's more or less the same reason why my family and I decided to move here." My father revealed. "It seemed like the crime in Saffron continued to climb each day."

"Personally I didn't feel comfortable living near our city's Pokemon Gym." My mother added as she poured them fresh cups of coffee. "The young woman who runs that place is just strange."

"Well, you folks came to Maiden's Peak at just the right time." Mr. Fredrickson revealed. "Tomorrow the town is having its annual end of summer festival. People come from miles around just to see it."

"Hey dad, can I go out for a bit?" I requested after becoming sick of unpacking.

"Sure son. Go out and get to know the town." My father suggested. "Your mother and I can finish putting things away."

I excused myself and left the house. With nothing better to do I decided to take my father's advice and go check out the rest of the town. I walked down the old dirt road that led between the house and the rest of the town for what seemed like twenty minutes, passing by a few shacks and other small houses that looked similar to our own. When I finally reached the town I was impressed by all the decorations for the festival that Mr. Fredrickson had mentioned. There were strings of paper lanterns hung over the street and the little shops were all decked out in color.

I reached the end of the street and came to a railing overlooking the ocean. Even back then I had to admit that view was breathtaking. But being the teenager I was I could help but think how much life had begun to suck. The Peak did look like a nice place to live, but there was no arcade, no mall. Not even a stinking movie theater. And the worst part of it all was that Maiden's Peak was one of those little towns where nothing ever changed, where nothing exciting ever happened. It was the Styx.

"Hi there." A voice suddenly greeted from behind, causing me to jump and turn around.

That's when I first met her. She looked to be in her early teens. Her blue hair went past her shoulders and she had on a white sun hat, a powder blue shirt, and a black skirt that ended above the knee. At the time I thought she was cute. I guess I still do. But what I remember most about her were her eyes. Her eyes were a striking light blue, but as beautiful as they were there was something very unsettling about them. Crazed would be a good word to describe them I suppose, but I'm not sure if that word does them justice. They say that the eyes are the windows to the soul, maybe because we can tell certain things about a person just by looking in their eyes. Her eyes seemed to be the eyes of someone who had seen something they weren't meant to see, something that had changed her forever. Oh, if only I had known the whole truth at that time.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." She chuckled. "I'm Dusk. And you are?"

"Oh, Ben Norris." I answered after getting over my initial shock. Though her eyes still unsettled me a great deal. "Do you live around here?"

"Nope, just passing through." She replied. "Do you live here?"

"Unfortunately." I sighed. "My folks decided it'd be good for me to grow up in a place like this, or some crap like that. Like they could ever understand."

"I know what you mean. My mother and sisters don't understand me at all." She revealed. "That's why I ran off on my own."

"You're a runaway?"

"You could say that." She then looked out over the ocean to her right. "You see that statue over there?"

I turned my head in the direction Dusk was looking. Atop a pillar of rock jutting out of the ocean was a statue of some kind. I couldn't tell for sure from that far away, but it seemed to be the statue of a woman. The little town had suddenly become interesting.

"Hey, I wonder who…?" I began to ask, but when I turned my head Dusk was gone.

I brushed Dusk's sudden disappearance off and decided to go check out the statue. The whole time though I kept thinking about her. I couldn't get the look of her eyes out of my mind. I kept wondering who Dusk was and where she came from. What was it that her family didn't understand about her? Why were things so bad that she felt she had to run away from it all? I recall coming up with several different theories, one was that she was simply a victim of some sort of abuse.

I put the puzzle that was Dusk out of my mind though when I finally reached the statue. It was indeed the statue of a young woman with long hair adorned with a single flower. She had a sad expression as she looked out over the ocean. And right away I had gotten the impression that she was waiting for something. I soon noticed a small shrine on the cliff right across from the statue, thinking that perhaps it would provide answers.

Inside I found a portrait of the young woman that the statue depicted. Her sadness was magnified by the somber black and white tones of the painting. As was her beauty it seemed. Before I knew it I was captivated.

"Beautiful, isn't she?" a voice commented from behind, causing me to jump and turn around yet again. Standing behind me was a diminutive old woman with long matted grey hair. She wore purple robes and held a wooden staff in her hand. "You're not the first young man to fall for her looks."

"Who is she?" I asked.

"A young maiden who lived over two-thousand years ago." The old woman explained. "The handsome young man she fell in love with went off to war overseas. She vowed to wait for him on that cliff until he returned. But he never did."

"Did he die?"

"Who knows?" the old woman shrugged. "But the maiden continued to wait and over time her body became one with the cliff. That is how this town got its name. It is said that she still waits for her over to return."

"How tragic." I commented as I looked back at the portrait.

"I would forget about her young man." The old woman went on with an odd grin. "She is dead after all. Though there is one other part of the legend. They say that the maiden's spirit still haunts this place, and that she sometimes leads young men to their doom."

"I find that hard to believe." I scoffed as I looked back at the paining again.

"Believe what you will. But if I were you I'd stay away from this place." The old woman warned. "Especially right now. We are nearing the summer end festival, and that is the time when the maiden's spirit likes to come out."

"Look, I…" I began to say. But when I turned my head back the old woman was gone.

That was two sudden disappearances in one day. But just like before I brushed it off and left the shrine. I decided to head back to the house, as it was getting close to dinner. But as I began to walk I glanced and noticed Dusk looking at the statue of the unfortunate maiden. As I came closer to her I noticed that she seemed to be talking to the statue.

"…Don't worry, I'll find a way to bring him back." She said to the statue.

"Uh, hi Dusk." I greeted. Dusk turned to me and was once again confronted by those eyes. Those eyes seemed to make me forget all about the maiden's beauty.

"Hello Ben." Dusk greeted back with a smile that seemed unsettling due to her eyes. "I was just talking with Nadeshiko."

"…Who's Nadeshiko?" I asked hesitantly. For I knew what the answer had to be.

"Why she's the maiden, silly." Dusk explained, confirming what I had thought. "The poor girl's been waiting ages for her true love to return."

"Well that much I know, but how do you know her name's Nadshiko?" I asked, thought yet again I knew the answer.

"She told me of course." Dusk answered matter-of-factly. "We've been talking since you went into the shrine."

"I see…" I replied, thinking that she was probably off her rocker. Yet there a part that actually believed her.

"Could you do me a favor and meet me back here around midnight?" Dusk requested. "It's mean a lot."

"…Yeah, I can do that I guess." I agreed. Though at the time I wasn't sure why. Maybe it was because it was a way to escape boredom.

"Yay! Thank you!" Dusk happily replied. "I'll see you later then. We're going to have so much fun tonight!"

And with that she began to skip away humming an eerie tune. To this day a part of me wishes that I had turned down Dusk's request. But looking back I know there was no way I could have. For ages the maiden of the peak had captivated men, but I was captivated by Dusk even more.

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**Author's Note:** I got a little creative with names in this story. For one thing there's Dawn's surname. Berlitz is actually the last name of one of Dawn's manga counterparts. I liked the sound of it, so decided to use here in this little AU of mine. I don't like how most of the anime characters seem to lack last names. In the games it's fine, but in the anime it can get a little annoying (especially for us writers). As for the name of the maiden, I just picked a name that seemed to fit.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	2. Guardian of the Dead

**Author's Note:** Originally I was planing to do this story as just one long oneshot. But it seemed to work better in segments. So here's part two.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

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**II: Guardian of the Dead**

9:18 PM: I just had a long phone conversation with my editor. Apparently my last article, one that I had spent five days working, wasn't long enough. I swear that woman is going to drive me up the wall one of these days. Of course since I'm writing this I'm probably half way there. In a way I welcomed the call from my editor because it gave me an excuse to take a break from this little recounting. This is where things start to get unbelievable.

The evening of that day seven years ago was fairly uneventful. I returned to my new home and had a modest dinner with my parents. Then a little later we went to bed. But I did not get any sleep that night. I think it was a little after 11:30 when I snuck out through the window. I recall wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and jeans to blend into the night. The countryside was silent as I walked down that old dirt road. The only light was from the moon and stars above. The rest of the Peak had turned in for the night.

It was another twenty minutes before I had gotten to town. The whole place had a completely different appearance at night. I felt as if I was walking through a ghost town. Looking back I guess I was partly right considering what happened next. When I came close to the shrine I stopped and waited for Dusk to show up. Though I didn't think I would be waiting long.

"Hi." Her voice greeted from behind me, causing me to jump and turn around.

"Dang it! You startled me." I told her.

"I know. I couldn't resist." She giggled. "You're such an easy target Ben."

"Why are we out here anyway?" I asked.

"You'll see." She replied with a rather mischievous smile. "Follow me."

I did as she said and followed her to the shrine. We then hid behind some bushes that were a few feet away from the door. Then we waited, for what I didn't know. But Dusk seemed to know. The whole time we waited she kept her haunted eyes on the doors to the shrine. Then after what seemed like half an hour I heard footsteps coming towards the shrine. I peeked over the bushes and saw that it was a young man who looked to be in his late teens to early twenties. And he seemed like he was in a trance.

Suddenly the doors to the shrine blew open as if by a strong gust of wind. Then I saw it, the spirit of the fabled maiden. She floated out of the shrine, completely white and transparent. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. In fact I think I might've pinched myself to see if I was dreaming. But I was definitely awake.

"Come to me." The maiden beckoned to the young man. Mindlessly he obeyed and began to walk towards her.

"Ah ha! Gotcha!" Dusk said triumphantly as she suddenly stood up from behind the bushes.

I could not believe Dusk's boldness. There before us was specter from the afterlife and she confronted it like a normal person would confront a kid stealing from the cookie jar. A normal person would've been paralyzed with fear. I know I was. But then again Dusk wasn't normal. The spirit of the maiden turned to face her.

"Don't interfere!" the spirit warned with a voice full of wrath.

"Or what?" Dusk asked unafraid.

In answer to her question the maiden's form withered and decayed, becoming a skeleton with long hair and a dress. It cried out in an unearthly bone-chilling moan and flailed its arms. Then waves of flying skulls began to fly out of the open shrine. I remained behind the bushes the whole time, my eyes frozen open in terror. But Dusk simply laughed at the sight. I can still hear that laugh clear as a bell when I think about that night. There was a sort of madness to it.

"Wow! You're really good." Dusk complimented to the ghost as she clapped her hands. "My turn." She reached behind her back and pulled out a sparkling Pokeball that was orange on top and white on the bottom. "Let's play… Giratina!"

The Pokemon that burst out of that ball was one of the most terrifying things I have ever seen. It was an immense dragon with the body of a serpent. It was predominantly grey in color and had a red and black-stripped belly. On its upper half were six gold blades that were like ribs while the lower half had six grey spikes with gold tips that were almost like legs. It had six wings that were like tattered black streamers, and each wing had a single red spike on the end. Golden plates covered its face and its eyes glowed red like those of a demon. The ghost of the maiden too seemed terrified by this beast.

"Dragonbreath." Dusk commanded.

The plates on Giratina's mouth opened and it breathed out a stream of purple flames at the specter. The next thing I knew there was some sort of explosion and everything was obscured by smoke. When it cleared the ghost and the malevolent spirits it had summoned had vanished. In their place was another Pokemon, much smaller than Giratina. It looked like a black ball surrounded by a purple cloud of gas. It had a large pair of eyes and a mouth with two small fangs like a vampire. This was a Pokemon that I was slightly more familiar with.

"A Gastly?" I asked as I finally stood up from behind the bushes.

The young man who had earlier been in a trance suddenly came to his senses. He screamed at the sight before him and ran off into the night. I didn't blame him a bit.

"Blast! How did you know?" the Gastly demanded.

I was startled when that Pokemon spoke in human language. I've never been an expert on Pokemon. In fact I was one of those rare kids who didn't want to become a Pokemon Trainer at the age of ten. But one thing I knew for sure was that Pokemon could not speak in human tongue, only the syllables of their species name. Yet before me was a Pokemon clearly capable of saying much more.

"Nadeshiko told me about you." Dusk explained in response to Gastly's question.

"Hold on!" I interrupted. "That Pokemon can talk?"

"You know it's rude to talk about people as if their not there!" an offended Gastly pointed out. "And for the record, I learned how to speak your language thousands of years ago."

"Mr. Gastly comes to this town every year to pose as Nadeshiko." Dusk explained. "He's also that old woman you saw at the shrine earlier."

"Why would you do that?" I asked the talking Pokemon.

"To help keep her legend alive." Gastly explained. "And to make a few bucks."

"Why would you need money?" I inquired.

"That is none of your business, boy." Gastly told me.

"Some ghost Pokemon like Mr. Gastly here like to act as guardians of the dead." Dusk informed me. "They watch over graves and scare people off. And in cases like these they make sure that the dead person they're protecting is remembered."

"You're certainly quite knowledgeable." Gastly commented. "Obviously you're not a normal human. How did you get the great Giratina?"

"Someone gave it to me." Dusk answered. "But I have some questions for you, Mr. Gastly."

"I figured there was a reason for spoiling my fun." Gastly replied. "What is it?"

"Well, Nadeshiko and I were talking earlier and she seemed to think that you knew something about her boyfriend that you weren't telling her." Dusk began. "Do you?"

At this question Gastly was silent for a moment. He looked from Dusk to Giratina, then to Dusk again. I could tell that the old Ghost Pokemon was afraid of Giratina, and probably of Dusk too.

"Oh, alright. I'll tell you what I know." Gastly finally relented. "But you're not going to like what I have to tell you. I did run into the poor maiden's lover about a year and a half ago. He and his fellow soldiers still haunt an old battlefield in the Unova Region. The poor fools still think they're alive. The fight the same battle again and again each night."

"Oh dear." Dusk said sadly. "I was afraid it'd be something like that."

"Why would they be fighting the same battle over and over?" I asked, though I was surprised that the question escaped my mouth. I still wasn't sure I fully believed what they were talking about.

"Well they don't realize that they are." Dusk explained to me. "My guess is that something's keeping those soldiers there."

"I tried to get through to the maiden's lost love, but he wouldn't listen to me." Gastly continued. "There was nothing I could do. And I just didn't have the heart to tell the poor maiden."

"Well then, I guess I'll just have to try and take care of it myself." Dusk decided.

"Whoa, just hold on!" I cut in. "What is it you think you can do?"

"Don't know. But I have to try." Dusk told me.

"Okay, but Gastly just said that this battlefield is all the way over in the Unova Region." I pointed out. "That's a long way away."

"Don't worry, there's a way we can get there really quick." Dusk assured me with a somewhat eerie smile. "Oh Giratina."

The ghostly dragon came lower to the ground and pulled up next to us. Dusk climbed up onto Giratina's back.

"C'mon Ben." Dusk called down.

At that point I could've just left, just run off screaming into the night like that young man Gastly had lured. I had already gotten in over my head. But for some reason I didn't run away. Instead I climbed onto Giratina's back and got behind Dusk.

"My, it seems that the poor maiden isn't the only bewitching beauty around here." Gastly commented to me as he floated up next to my head. "I'm coming with incidentally. The two of you could use a guide."

"So are we flying to Unova?" I asked.

"Something like that." Dusk said with a mischievous grin. "Hold on tight."

I held on tighter to Dusk's midsection, trying my best to keep my hands away from her chest. Giratina took off into the air like a rocket. But instead of flying out over the night ocean the ghost dragon began to dive right for its surface. I screamed just as we were about to hit the water.

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**Author's Note:** One thing about this story is that I'm having to fill in a few of the gaps left by the original anime episode. Which is actually kinda fun. The episode never said where our dead maiden's boyfriend was being shipped off to. Only that it was overseas. So I decided on Unova. Though I guess I could've also picked Hoenn or Sinnoh.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	3. The Endless Battle

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

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**III: The Endless Battle**

10: 47 PM: I needed to step out for some air. This next part of the story isn't easy for me to get into. But I have to at this point. One thing my mother taught me was to always finish what I started. Besides, I need to get this all out on paper, especially before midnight. If I'm right… well, again I'm getting ahead of myself. First things first, I need to talk about what happened on that battlefield.

Dusk, Gastly, and I were flying towards the water's surface on Giratina's back. But a split second before impact a massive portal of white light opened up and we went in. What was on the other side of that tunnel of light simply blew my mind. It was a completely different world. Above and below was sky covered in thick swirling dark-blue clouds. Floating all around us were pieces of land almost like little islands of different sizes. They were all at different angles, some even upside-down. Some of them were bare while others had tall forests of kelp-like plants growing out of them.

"What is this place?" I asked Dusk.

"Shortcut." She answered simply and cheerfully. "Okay Giratina, take us to Unova."

Giratina nodded and we took off through the endless expanse. As we flew I could tell that Gastly seemed nervous.

"Something wrong?" I asked the Ghost Pokemon.

"I'm not exactly comfortable being here." Gastly explained. "This dimension is stayed away from by my kind."

"Why's that?" I inquired, not certain if I wanted to know the answer.

"It is because of the very Pokemon we now ride." Gastly explained. "Giratina rules over this place."

"Oh, that's a different Giratina." Dusk interjected. "I got this one when it was a baby. I did meet this other Giratina though. He's actually quite nice."

"…Uh, when did you meet this other Giratina?" I asked her.

"When I first came here." Dusk answered. "I was only three years old. I was outside playing and my favorite ball got away from me. When I went to go get it there was this big flash of light and I was pulled into the air. I think I must've passed out after that. When I woke up I couldn't see anything and my head really hurt. I don't remember how long I was on the ground, but eventually my head stopped hurting. Then I found myself here."

"Is that when you met the other Giratina?" I asked.

"Nope, I didn't meet him until later." Dusk went on. "For awhile I just wandered around this place trying to find my way home. It was actually a little fun. You can walk upside-down on some of the pieces of ground floating through this place. But eventually I did meet the older Giratina. He asked me what I was doing in his world. I was surprised I could somehow understand what he was saying. We talked for a while and I told him about my family, and later he opened this big hole of light for me and told me that if I went through I'd be back home. I went in and the next thing I knew I was in my backyard.

"But everything was different for me after that. I could see and hear people that others couldn't. It was a few years before I realized the people I was seeing were the spirits of the dead. I could also understand what Ghost Pokemon could say. I told my mom and my sisters, and the doctors who looked me over when I came back. But they didn't believe me, nobody does." At this point her expression saddened. "…One of the worst parts of it all was that the people I could see always looked so sad."

I found Dusk's story to be very tragic. She saw things that no mortal being was ever meant to see, all at the tender age of three. And it left her with a curse of being able to see the dead. It was no surprise to me that nobody believed Dusk about what had happened to her or about what she could see. At the time even I wasn't sure if I believed her. Though I was becoming more and more certain as time went on.

"Of course okay now though." Dusk assured me as a smile quickly returned to her face. "Now that I have my Giratina with me I can travel the world and help comfort those who have died, sometimes even help them cross over."

Suddenly Giratina moved upward and we entered another tunnel of light. When we reached the other side we were back in the normal world. Though we were nowhere near Maiden's Peak. But we were still over the water and there was a little town in the distance on shore. I didn't recognize the town, but I had to assume it was a town in the Unova Region.

"Which way now Mr. Gastly?" Dusk asked.

"That way." Gastly replied as he formed the mist around itself into a crud arm and pointed.

Giratina took off towards the town like a rocket. Before long we were flying over land, turning as Dusk and Giratina followed Gastly's directions. Eventually we came to a large clearing not far away from another beach. As we came up on the field I fancied I could see shadows of some sort.

"Is this the place?" Dusk asked.

"Yes." Gastly confirmed. "And it seems that the battle has already begun again."

Our ghostly mode of transportation set down in the forest near the field. After Dusk called Giratina back to its Pokeball we headed for the clearing. As we got closer I thought I could hear shouts and cries of some sort. Then we finally reached the area, and when a cloud passed by the moon I saw something that I did not expect to see. Or at least hoped that I wouldn't see.

In the field before us were two armies of men fighting each other in brutal combat. They were all dressed in ancient armor that had not been used by any army for thousands of years. Many of them were locked in battle, some using swords, others spears. Some of the soldiers were even fighting hand-to-hand. And the most shocking part of it all was that I could see right though them.

"They can be seen by mortals on moonlit nights like these." Gastly explained. "Though most mortals stay away from here because they know its haunted."

"Which one's Nadeshiko's boyfriend?" Dusk asked.

"I'll take you to him." Gastly replied. "This should still be the point in the battle before he's 'killed'. He will perceive us and interact with us. But tell him that he's dead and he won't believe you."

"Uh, just which side won this battle?" I asked as Gastly began to lead us into the battle.

"Believe it or not, it was a draw." Gastly said with a dark chuckle. "Both sides fought to the last man, and the last men standing ended up killing one another."

In moments Gastly had led us to a young-looking soldier with shoulder-length unkempt brown hair. He was using a sword to fight off two other men. He stabbed one of the combatants through the stomach, while one of his comrades took over fighting the other. The soldier who was stabbed fell to the ground as if dead.

"Excuse me, Shinji?" Dusk called, getting the young dead soldier's attention.

"Who are you?" Shinji demanded to know. "What are you doing on this battlefield? And why are you dressed so strangely?"

"I'm Dusk, and this is Ben and Gastly." She introduced. "We've come to take you back home."

"I'd like nothing more than to return home." The ghost told us. "But I cannot leave until this battle is won."

"It isn't going to be won." I told him, partly forgetting I was talking to a dead man. "It's been over for more than two-thousand years."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Shinji replied. "Now get out of here before you get hurt!"

"I told you it was pointless, boy." Gastly reminded me.

Suddenly a large soldier wielding a spear came charging at Shinji. I don't know what went through my mind at that moment. Maybe I just forgot for a few seconds that the soldiers around us were already dead. But as if on instinct I charged in between Shinji and his would-be killer to try and save his life, and I was the one who ended up getting stabbed. I didn't feel anything from the weapon except a sort of cold metallic feeling that ran through my body. And I was horrified when I looked down and saw the business end of the weapon sticking out through my chest. The soldier pulled the spear out and I was shocked to find no wound. Shinji seemed to be almost as shocked as I was.

"Die like the dog you are!" the large soldier from behind spoke as he looked down at the spot where a dead body might be.

"SHINJI!" one of the young dead soldier's comrades cried. He finished slaying his opponent and ran over to the spot where Shinji might've fallen dead and crouched down. "Don't worry, I'll avenge you."

"…But Genta, I'm right here." A very confused Shinji told his friend.

"Don't try and talk." Genta continued, still as if he was speaking to a dying man on the ground. It was almost like watching a play with one of the actors missing. "I'll make that dog pay for what he's done!"

Genta then charged off with his sword held high, his voice sounding a battle cry. He attacked the soldier that had apparently killed Shinji only to be killed as well.

"What's… going on?" Shinji asked as he backed away in horror.

"You've been taken out of the moment." Gastly told him. "As far as the other soldiers are concerned you're dead, which you are of course. It was because that boy interfered in the battle to try and save you're life."

"Great work Ben." Dusk praised.

"Oh, you know me." I said modestly with a nervous laugh as I rubbed the back of my head, trying my best not to pass out.

"I don't understand at all." Shinji spoke as he fell to his knees, tears beginning to run down his cheeks. Dusk walked over to him, got to her knees, and took his hand.

"You've been dead for a long time now Shinji." Dusk informed him with a gentle smile. "It's time for you to move on. Nadeshiko is waiting for you."

"But the battle…" Shinji tried to argue.

"The battle ended ages ago." Gastly told him. "And neither side won."

"So… I'm really dead?" the ghost asked as the fact finally seemed to sink in. "And everyone else too?"

"That's right." Dusk confirmed. "Now isn't there someplace else you should be?"

"…Nadeshiko." Shinji spoke after a short pause. Suddenly he turned into a ball of gold light and shot up into the air. Dusk sent Giratina back out.

"Let's go." She told Gastly and myself as she got on the dragon's back.

"But what about all these other soldiers?" I asked. The battle of the dead still raged on around us like some macabre stage show.

"I'm afraid there's nothing that can be done for them right now." Gastly said as he floated up next to Dusk. "Many of them had already had their death for the night already. Now come along boy, I very much want to see this reunion."

"Don't worry Ben, I'll do something to help these people later." Dusk assured me.

I decided not to argue any further and got onto the dragon's back. Giratina took off like a missile and soon we were back over the water. The dragon dove at the water's surface and we reentered the odd world of floating islands. A little later we returned to the normal world and were back at the peak. We waited, floating close to the maiden's statue. Moments later the gold ball of light stopped before the statue. Shinji returned to his original form but with an unearthly glow. The ghost of the maiden then emerged from her statue and flew towards him, a tearful smile on her face.

"Shinji!" she happily called as she wrapped her arms around him in a hug, which he immediately returned.

"Sorry I took so long." He said to her.

"I don't care about that. All I care about is that you're finally back." Nadeshiko replied.

The two spirits kissed, and as they did they turned into a brilliant ball of light and shoot into the sky, illuminating it before vanishing. Giratina floated over the cliff and set down, allowing Gastly and myself to dismount.

"Where do you think they went?" I wondered.

"Someplace where they can be together." Dusk answered as she looked up at the sky. She turned her head back to face me. "Well, my work here is done. Thanks for your help Ben."

"You're leaving?" I asked, actually feeling a little surprised.

"Yep. My work is never really done." Dusk told me. "In fact I now have a battlefield of soldiers to take care of."

"So, will I ever see you again?" I asked.

"…Maybe." She answered with a playful expression. "Goodbye Ben."

Giratina took back off into the air and headed back towards the water. I watched as Dusk and the dragon vanished into the portal of light, and kept my eye on that portal as it closed behind them.

"Quite the interesting girl, that Dusk." Gastly commented.

"What are you going to do?" I asked the talking Pokemon.

"I'll stay for the festival and then depart." Gastly answered. "Then I'll return just like I do every year. The ghost of Maiden's Peak may be gone now, but her legend shall live on. I'll see to that. See you around, boy."

With that, Gastly simply faded away, leaving me alone by the cliff. I looked at my watch by the light of the moon. It was almost 3:00 AM. Weary, I began to head home. That was the end of the weirdest night of my life. But there have been nights since than that have been almost as strange.

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**Author's Note:** This section was sort of a hard one to write. I was going to do part of it another way, but decided there were a few problems with it. Anyway, the inspiration of the repeating battle came from this old episode of the _Twilight Zone_ I saw a couple times. And this one movie, I can't remember the title.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	4. Girl of the Twilight World

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

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**IV: Girl of the Twilight World**

September 22, 2012

7:19 AM: It's morning now here in Eterna City. And what I found when I woke up… well… I'll get to that in a moment. First I think I should wrap up my story. I've already told of what happened that night, but that's not the end of it. In fact it might be more accurate to say that it was just the beginning.

I had gotten very little sleep when I had returned home after my bizarre adventure. As a result I could barely pull myself out of bed the following morning. It didn't help that my parents were morning people that were usually up by the crack of dawn. Fortunately the day was uneventful. I did attend the Summer End Festival, and saw the lanterns that were traditionally released on the water to guide the spirits of the dead back home. Of course I knew of one spirit that didn't need those lanterns. Shinji had already come home, and he and his maiden Nadeshiko had already crossed over to another plain where they could spend the rest of eternity together.

After the festival, the Peak had settled into its usual routine. Life more or less went on at a normal pace. But the events of that night stayed with me. During high school I did my own little research into the occult and the paranormal. I also looked to find out more about Dusk's Pokemon, Giratina. As it turned out, Giratina is one of three mythical dragons from the Sinnoh Region that is said to rule over a realm as the Distortion World. At least that's what that dimension was called in the paper I read on the subject. How Dusk got a hold on such a Pokemon I don't know. That's just part of her mystery I guess.

When I finally graduated I became a traveling reporter for a world news service. It was around that time I think when I saw the picture of Dawn Berlitz and was shocked to see that she looked exactly like Dusk, except for the eyes of course. Her eyes were all wrong. Dawn's eyes were not the haunted crazed eyes that had seen beyond the veil into the worlds beyond our own. But Dawn's face was identical to Dusk's, and I remembered Dusk saying that she had sisters. So being the reporter that I was I decided to do a little digging.

As it turned out, Dawn Berlitz was the daughter of one of the Sinnoh Region's top Pokemon Coordinators, Johanna Berlitz, as well as one of three identical triplets. I couldn't find out much about Dawn's sisters. All I found out about one sister, Diane, was that she was a fairly brilliant and up-and-coming Pokemon Researcher. As for Dusk, I could find no information. The first chance I got I paid Johanna a visit, gave her some cock-and-bull story about doing an article on her daughter Dawn. She wouldn't say too much about Dusk, only that she had disappeared for a week when she was three.

Johanna did also admit that Dusk wasn't quite right after coming back that time. Apparently the doctors that had examined Dusk said that her claims about the things she could see and hear and her story about where she was that week were a sort of fantasy her mind created to deal with the trauma of what really happened to her. The fools. If only those doctors knew the truth. But then I guess I can't really blame them for thinking that about Dusk. If I hadn't seen the things I did that night I'd find it all hard to believe too. Anyway, Mrs. Berlitz told me that she couldn't stand the thought of Dusk being locked away in some mental institution. So she and Diane had been looking after her. At least that's how it was until Dusk disappeared some years later when she was with Diane on a trip to the Johto Region to investigate some old ruins.

That's all I could learn from Johanna Berlitz. But my investigation went on. Not long after speaking to Mrs. Berlitz I did some digging into what might've happened that caused poor Dusk to be hurled to the Distortion World. As it turned out, an eccentric scientist named Elliot Marston was toying with some new invention that would let him see into other dimensions around the same time Dusk dropped off the face of the earth when she was three. Apparently the gizmo had literally blown up in his face.

Some time after that I tracked down Diane Berlitz. She was quite nice when I met her, though perhaps a little too involved in her work. But when I asked about what happened when Dusk ran off on her she threw me out on my face. That's all I could learn about Dusk's past. Since then I've been checking out spots known to have paranormal activity in hopes of running into Dusk again. That's why I volunteered to take this news story here in Eterna City, so I could check out this supposedly haunted mansion in Eterna Forest called the Old Chateau.

I guess it's strange that I'd be chasing after Dusk all this time. But the truth is that talking Gastly was right when she called Dusk a bewitching beauty. Because as haunted as I am of her I'm just as captivated. There are times when I can't get her out of my thoughts. She's unlike anyone I've ever encountered, a girl who's of a world that exists in the twilight of our own. She frolics in the graveyards and talks with those who have passed on yet not crossed over, offering them comfort and aid however she can.

There's one more part of this story that I guess I should tell, a part that I guess I've been avoiding. But there's no sense in avoiding it any longer, especially not after what I found here in my motel room this morning sitting on the table next to this very manuscript. The thing I think I've seen Dusk again since that time. Though I'm not entirely sure. It could be just some sort of madness or delusion, though I pray that it's not.

The first time was about a year after that night. It was late and I woke up to use the bathroom. When I passed by the hallway mirror on my way there I stopped. In the mirror I _could see Dusk's haunted eyes staring back at me_. It seemed like only a second though, and at the time I simply brushed it off. But every year around the time of the Summer End Festival at the Peak I've seen those eyes. Usually it'd be in the mirror, and at times there'd be a great looming shadow with them.

It seems like Dusk has been paying me a visit every year since that time. Our own sort of anniversary I suppose. And today is the day of the festival at the Peak. I saw the eyes again last night, but it was different from all the other times. For this time I woke up in the middle of the night and _saw Dusk's face only inches away from mine as if she was lying next to me on the bed_. It was only for a moment though. And when I awoke this morning I felt sure it was a dream. That was until I found a handwritten note next to this manuscript. I'm going to transcribe what it said.

_Hello Ben. It sure is nice to see you again. I saw this little thing you've been writing about our adventure and couldn't resist taking a look. I had a lot of fun that night. No need to worry about those soldiers anymore. I helped them all pass on years ago. And I made a friend in the process. Her name's Helen, she's a Yamask. Anyway, I was just at the Old Chateau yesterday. I ran into my sister Dawn. I also made a couple more friends, living ones. Their names are Ash and Misty, and they've been to the Distortion World too. I'll get going now. See you later._

_ ~Dusk_

Well, I guess this at least proves somewhat that I'm not going mad. It also seems like there's no longer any point in going to the Old Chateau. Dusk is probably long gone by now. But it does seem like I have a few new leads to follow up. I'm going to try and have a word with Dawn, and try and track down this Ash and Misty. It shouldn't be too hard. I know it does seem crazy to follow after Dusk like I have been. But I just can't resist. The world of the supernatural has a point of no return. And I think I may have crossed it long ago.

END?

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**Author's Note:** There you have it. Probably not my best work, but I got a kick out of working on it. Anyway, those of you who've read _Dawn of Shadows_ now know a little more of the story. And those who haven't, feel free to do so. There will be a sequel to Dawn of Shadows and this story coming at some point. So stay tuned.

Please review and let me know what you think.


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